Red Wine with Purple Onions

This red wine with purple onion is said to be good for hearts, for reducing arterial lipids and for softening blood vessels. I first heard of these sayings from causal chats, from emails forwarded to me, and then from friends’ personal recommendations. On the day I was ready to prepare this drink, I also read an article (in Chinese) on the Apple Daily News mentioning the same, and seemingly endorsing me to share this recipe. The author of that article also wrote about A Soup for Preventing Flu

In only two steps and a couple of minutes, this drink can be done. But wait, for the best effects, it should not be drunk on the first 7 days. If the wine looks so irresistible, let me propose to make only half portion of this recipe and enjoy the remaining bottle (this was what I did actually).

Ingredients

1 bottle 750ml red wine

2 each of purple onion

Method

Remove the outer membrane and cut away both ends of the onions, rinse them, cut each into 8 wedges. Pat dry. Load them into a container (I suppose it is better to have a sterilized glass container), and pour in the wine.

Seal the container, store it in a cool dark area for a week. Remove the onions from wine on the 8th day, and store the whole container in fridge. You may then start enjoy 50ml per night from then onward.

Be prepared, the wine with onions soaked in it for so many days will offer a strong garlicky flavor. Indeed, the very first sip of the drink did not please me. It took me quite a while to get used to the smell, but what I am sure now is that I will go for the second, third … bottles of this as hubby has gladly grabbed every 50ml of his.

I’d like to try, but is it for real that it helps arterial lipids? LOL

TasteHongKongApril 17, 2010

@Kitchen Butterfly, You may like it if you try.

@KennyT, I should have quoted from the author, ‘ … among friends, there is a record of lowered cholesterol level in a month … ‘ . Correct me if I’m wrong, my interpretation is that lowered cholesterol is somehow related to reduced arterial lipids. If you are interested in reading the original article, just click on the link ‘(in Chinese)’, of which I have just added above. Enjoy your red wine with onions!

Interesting! I recently read somewhere that eating 1/2 of any raw onion a day can bring one’s bad cholesterol (LDL) down by 25% in two weeks. I don’t know if that’s true, but apparently onions do have some very good qualities when it comes to arterial fats! I might have to try this…

How about white onions, will they work? Does this recipe help with sleeplessness?

TasteHongKongDecember 20, 2010

@King Yu,
In the first email I learned about this, it simply advised the use of onion without specifying which type. Perhaps red onion is later recommended by more people because it is sweeter and less garlicky than the white ones when eating raw, but this is my guess only. Sleeplessness? I’m afraid the original recipe haven’t mentioned this. Unless you are not suitable for drinking wine, I believe the best answer is to give it a try. Enjoy!

YLDecember 31, 2010

Thanks for the recipe. I just fermented it for 8 days and drank my 1st 50ml few minutes ago. Taste isn’t too bad. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow, whether I’ll sleep well tonight and whether I will feel extra fresh tomorrow. Again thanks!

TasteHongKongJanuary 1, 2011

@YL,
You are welcome. I suppose taking this drink as a healing agent shall undergo a continual process. If you read Chinese, you may find in the link to a news clipping above, ‘article (in Chinese)’, suggested that it takes one of the columnist’s friends A MONTH to record a lowered cholesterol level. But I shall be happy to hear from you any time you find it convenient. Enjoy your red wine!

Lisa L.January 13, 2011

I highly recommend this healing drink. I recently learned about the recipe and couldn’t wait for a minute to give it a try. I’m now into my second week of drinking it, and amazingly, my dry eyes and blurred vision problems have gotten improved significantly(as promised by the original recipe). I also noticed that my knees seem to be stronger and more flexible when I walk up and down stairs. My LDL always clings on the higher borderline and I hope to see it drop down to a more satisfactory level by continue taking it for a while. There are several other claimed healing effects from drinking this “magic potion”, that can only be proved from blood test results. I’ll wait for a couple months to find out more about it until my next annual check up appointment. If anyone out there can read Chinese, below is a worth reading article for your reference regarding this onion wine. If not, let Google Translate help you get a glimpse of it. Good luck! http://www.cbooks.org/alan/onion.htm

TasteHongKongJanuary 15, 2011

@Lisa L,
Many thanks for sharing your experience, and I hope more people could benefit from reading all these references. Also thanks for the link; I have emails forwarded to me containing similar information, and yours is one of the most detailed.
Take care!

BehroozMay 20, 2011

One on my chinese fried tried it for 7 days now and apparently it starts working from 4th day to overcome with Insomnia.

TasteHongKongMay 21, 2011

@Behrooz,
Thanks for writing to share your friend’s experience. I believe this could also be served as a reference.

[…] columnists, Yim Ho ?? (a film director who also writes articles and books on healing recipes like this and this), suggesting that we should drink more water during summer to replenish the loses through […]

jeffreyAugust 23, 2011

Do you also eat the red onions?

TasteHongKongAugust 23, 2011

@jeffrey,
I only tried out a small amount. According to the author, you may randomly eat the purple onion on a daily basis.

JennyJuly 5, 2012

Nice and easy , I will make one today and try it, see how it goes,,

TasteHongKongJuly 5, 2012

@Jenny,
I’d love to hear how yours goes.

kawuziOctober 8, 2012

A south Korean friend told me about this drink,that if taken , it helps the man to become stronger sexually . am going to try and see

LimJanuary 17, 2013

Friends of my said she refer to SING SEH( Chinese doctor). According to the doctor, wine cannot mixed with onions due to its can be harm to our brain. It’s true?

TasteHongKongJanuary 18, 2013

@Lim,
Am afraid this is the first time I hear such advice. Hope this is not true as there are many popular dishes that cook onions with wine.

EmFebruary 9, 2013

My mother has had high blood pressure for some time now, and she began drinking onion wine. Her blood pressure has reduced since then and she continues to drink a little bit every night before going to bed. Yes I understand that it smells and tastes bad, but it is worth drinking because of its positive results.

TasteHongKongFebruary 10, 2013

@Em,
Thanks for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it!

Sin OngFebruary 12, 2013

i made & drank it for a week amazingly. It certainly stop me from waking up in the middle of the night with the urge to pee!!!!! Now I am soaking a second bottle and a third is waiting……
Sin

I am about to finish the first bottle and l have bought two more bottles for continuity. Unfortunately l have to stop for two weeks Because of my travel. Now l am looking forward to drink it continuously for the next six weeks before l do a blood test. I have high LDLand Trig so l m looking forward to the benefit of this drink. I am also on hypertension medication and if it works on me l have you to thank for. I drink it just before dinner as red wine stirs up my gastric.

jlFebruary 22, 2013

can you use regular onions or does it have to be red onions?

TasteHongKongFebruary 23, 2013

@ji,
Not sure, but I haven’t heard that regular (yellow) onions could do the same for this recipe.

CHRIS LEEFebruary 28, 2013

I feel the purple onions are more pungent and it does leave a strong smell and taste on the wine. I am on my second bottle now and the only noticeable effect is a warm and nice feeling for about 1 hour after drinking could be the alcohol. I intend to test my blood at the end of March so fingers crossed.

TasteHongKongFebruary 28, 2013

@CHRIS LEE,
Good luck!

chichayMarch 11, 2013

i heard about this before and I will try it soon. will keep you posted after i try it for a week or so.

TasteHongKongMarch 12, 2013

@chichay,
Fine, and welcome to drop by anytime!

Edmond WongApril 9, 2013

I and my wife just tried it after 7 days of soaking the red wind with red onion slices. It tasted sweet and not bitter at all.

TasteHongKongApril 10, 2013

@Edmond Wong,
Thanks for sharing.

chichayApril 11, 2013

I have been drinking the wine since March 12. I actually look forward in drinkng it every night and has acquired the taste of it. I oberved that my asthma attack has lessened and my allergies are controlled without taking any meds. thanks for sharing this infor to us.

TasteHongKongApril 11, 2013

@chichay,
Welcome back and happy to hear that this works for you too, thanks for sharing!

CHRIS LEEApril 15, 2013

This is my fourth bottle. The improvement I noticed is better circulation in my arms and legs. I don’t feel so cold upon waking up each morning. I sleep in an ACON room without blanket.

I intend to test my Lipid profile upon completing my fifth bottle. Most likely sometime in May. Missed the March dateline I have set for my self but travelling has pushed back my plan.

TasteHongKongApril 15, 2013

@CHRIS LEE,
Glad to hear your update and the good news; again, good luck!

jasontMay 6, 2013

I tried for a week and the result on my thirty years of hypertension is fantastic, used to take 45mg of medicines but now reduced to 10 as I tested my blood pressure in the morning, afternoon and night. thanks for the wonderful recipe

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[…] onions and drunk with steak? I’d be embarrassed to post that. Turns out it’s another quack remedy spreading through Asia. Seriously, folks. If you’re drinking alcohol as medicine, […]

MariaMarch 4, 2014

I’ve soaked a bottle and forgot about it till 16 days later, I’m wondering if it’s still ok
To drink it

TasteHongKongMarch 4, 2014

@Maria,
It might not go bad, but better not to risk your health if we are not sure.

MariaMarch 5, 2014

Thank you, guess I’ll just have to soak a new batch now and hopefully I won’t forget about it this time

Clara chaiMay 24, 2014

Hi I got the recipe from a friend abt two weeks ago and immediately we tried soaking big purple onions in the red wine. We have been drinking it 4-5 times after the fermentation.

For two years I had heavy menses problem. That is 1-2 sanitary pad one hour. Henceforth a lot of nutrients had been lost. I took certain supplement. In the last blood test done 2 months ago, it showed increase in haemoglobin but there again my LDL is very high.

I had been careful with my diet since I had the heavy bleeding problem. I reduced sugar intake and took lots of natural food, including fresh fruits.

Having been on this red wine with purple onion for less than a week, I can say my stiff shoulder and neck has soften a lot. The tightness in my heels when I get up in the morning seem to disappear. In general, my body is warm, especially my toes and feet. My urination has not been so frequent.

the wine taste good. The soaked onion make a very good dish when fried with egg.

I do hope that my LDL will be lowered. Just wonder whether Chris Lee’s LDL did drop after his fifth bottle?

TasteHongKongMay 27, 2014

@Clara chai,
Thanks for sharing and hope your LDL will improve soon!

SpecticJune 15, 2014

Has anyone gone to the doctor and actually had a blood test showing lowered lipids/cholesterol???